Hasta La Gadget!

It’s the kind of geeky solution that makes a gear lover’s heart beat faster: Atdec, an Australian company, has released the Visidec Focus Notebook Tray, which not only holds your notebook off the desktop and at a comfortable angle, but can also hold an external monitor. Position the arms however you want for maximum productivity and flair.

The tray can hold notebooks up to 18 inches with a maximum weight of 17.5lbs, and it’s vented for proper cooling. It also has a no-slip surface and a tilt range of 25-degrees. If you only want the notebook tray, that will run you $199. Adding a second tray for a monitor costs and extra $129. The Website notes that they’ll be available soon, but doesn’t say when. Beauty doesn’t come cheap, as we all know, but a $20 version of this holder from Ikea would definitely be welcome.

In anticipation of the Thursday’s launch, the crazy kids at Gigabyte Japan have refreshed two of their netbook lineup to include Windows 7 Starter. Unfortunately for the T1028X tablet we’ve been tracking for a while now, this flavor of the OS doesn’t support multitouch. While that makes a touchscreen far less attractive in our eyes, maybe you’re into that sort of thing. Who knows? That said, new OS aside, you’re pretty much looking at the same old netvertible. Also on tap, the M1022X brings the M1022M docking netbook up to speed, adding a 6 cell battery (boasting 8 hours of use) to the 10.1-inch, Atom N280-powered ultraportable. Look for that one to retail for ¥66,800 ($738) while the T1028X fetches ¥72,800 ($804).

[Via Netbooked]

Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs

Gigabyte T1028X and M1022X netbooks launch in Japan, Win 7 in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Livescribe has announced new Pulse smartpens, which digitally capture and sync handwriting and audio and make me wish I was still in college taking notes. Options now include 4GB and 2GB versions in a new titanium color. The $199.95 4GB model holds 400 hours of recorded audio, and will be compatible with Livescribe’s upcoming Application Store when it launches later this year; the 2GB model rings in at $169.95.

The company also unveiled the Pro-Pack bundle, aimed at business professionals. It includes the 4GB Pulse smartpen in an exclusive black color, an A5 starter notebook, a leather carrying case, handwriting-to-text conversion software, and the company’s Pro Charging Cradle, which looks like an ink well and charges the Pulse from a USB port or power outlet. The Pro-Pack bundle costs $249.95.

For more information, read our detailed Hands-On with the original Livescribe Pulse Smartpen.

If you remember back in early August (or just follow this link), Logitech introduced the Unifying Receiver, a super-small USB wireless receiver that let you pair your notebook with up to six compatible wireless products. The idea was that you could take your laptop to different work areas without having to reconnect your peripherals when you got there.

Today Logitech builds on that idea with the Notebook Kit MK605. This four-piece combo includes a notebook stand, wireless keyboard, wireless mouse, and the receiver. Use it in your home or office and you can simply set your laptop down and begin working, with no connections to make or wires to hook up.

If you prefer separates, Logitech already sells compatible Unifying keyboards and mice on their own. The Notebook Kit MK605 lists for $99.99 and is available for pre-order from the Logitech site (it ships in November).

The emergence of the low-priced netbook has meant two things for the PC industry: an increase in the number of consumer notebook PCs, and a corresponding drop in PC revenues.

That’s the inevitable conclusion of IDC, whose Quarterly PC Tracker concluded that overall PC sales fell by 2.4 percent versus a year ago, with revenues plunging by 19.4 percent. The culprit, of course, was netbooks (or mininotebooks, as IDC dubs them).. Naturally, the only growth was in the consumer notebook sector, with an increase of 44 percent in terms of units.

Commercial notebook shipments dropped 16 percent. But mininotebooks climbed by 26 percent, and traditional consumer notebooks climbed 13 percent. Desktop unit shipments fell by 17 percent, although IDC did not break out the segment further.

What does the future hold? IDC expects some of the netbook interest to be sopped up by the portion of the mininotebook category that will pay a bit extra for a consumer-low-voltage (CULV) microprocessor from Intel or AMD. But whether buyers will opt for pricier models or stick what what works is quite literally a multi-million-dollar question.